For Alice
by Marxie
Summary: Just a short fic of a blind Alice walking through the woods with Ace.


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Don't shoot me!**

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For Alice, the world is black. Occasionally, she sees a shade of brightness in her dark world, and assumes that it is a patch sunlight. She tilts her head up to her imagined Sun as she steps through the Forest. At least she thinks it is a Forest, she can hear rustling leaves, and there is a moist dank feel to the air that reminds one that there are no buildings nearby.

Which reminds Alice, earlier she had been dragged out of her room and straight outside without even time to hunt down any shoes. At least the lack of footwear had given the girl some idea of her bearings when she felt the cold tiled floor change into the stone of the path and finally to the sparse, gritty grass Ace was currently dragging her through. But useful navigational tools aside, running through the forest barefoot hurts, and she curses as yet another stone found its way under her foot.

Alice hadn't realised Ace had stopped until she went smashing into his back. "A little warning next time would be appreciated!"

"Why? I like it when you come up behind me." Alice is almost certain he's smiling at her, but hopefully not that bland, emotionless smile that always seemed to haunt him. Ignoring the comment, Alice brushes past him, feeling rich material slip through her fingers. Why would he be in formal wear? As far as she knew, there were no events this month that required such attire. Once again, she wishes she could see. With only such a short time to grow accustomed to her lack of sight, her mental world was still composed of images, and she missed it. Even Ace's infuriating smile.

Something comes up behind her, snaking around her hip. When it gives a slight squeeze, Alice confirms it as Ace's arm and promptly attempts to elbow him. Her feet hurt, damnit. She's tempted to hit him again, though it's pointless. If anything, her elbow would be the one in pain after hitting muscle so many times. She was very aware how fit Ace was. His arm withdrew, and she swore he was shaking with laughter. "Do you know where we are, Alice?"

"You're lost, aren't you?" The reply comes immediately, fostered after many months of 'camping trips' and 'shortcuts'. "I thought you didn't get lost so much anymore."

"I'm not lost. I was just trying to point out one of our previous camping spots" There definitely was a smile in that voice.

"Which one? Aren't there too many too keep track of?" Which is true. Only a few months earlier, Ace losing his way was a common occurrence. Lately however, he seemed to be more aware of his surroundings and could at least make it to the clock tower in one day. But the bloodstains remained.

"I'm not quite sure, actually. It looks like somewhere we would have stayed. Do you want to camp here, just to make sure?" Ace pulls Alice close, backing her up. She stumbles backwards into a tree, the rough bark pressing into her back. She isn't even aware if it is nigh time, being unable to see the sky. She can feel him bending over her. He breathes lightly on her neck, and she can sense the goosebumps on her skin, his hands on her flesh, the dirt at her feet. She takes a deep breath, and from her overloaded mind dredges up a sentence. "What did you bring me out here for?"

That seems to bring him up short as he abruptly straightens. Alice shivers since the chill of the forest is suddenly more acute. "Right, I was taking you somewhere". Curioser and curioser, so he had a destination in mind?

Once again he begins to drag her along the grass until her foot snags something, something that would have been a branch, if she was indeed traipsing through a forest. It sends Alice tumbling forward. With no way to gauge how far away the ground was from her face, she throws her arm out in front of her.

Ace is there for her though, and reaches out to slide her easily into his hold. He wraps her close to him, and this time she lets him stay, enjoying the feeling of his arm gently guiding her along the unseen path.

They continue like that, tangled around each other as Alice relies on Ace to be her sight. Slowly, the grass beneath her feet disappears to be replaced by rough stone. Something low and throbbing also pulsates through the air. Ace continues to guide her forward and higher layers in the sound become apparent until Alice realises that the throbbing sound had been the baseline of a song. Strains of laughter reach her, along with the chatter and rumbling of a loud crowd making themselves known.

"Ace, where did you bring me? What's going on?" Alice is suspicious now, and it's not helping matters that she has no idea where she is or what's going on. "Just a little bit more." It was a quiet murmur in her ear as he released her.

Startled, Alice reached around in front of her only to grasp air. "Ace?"

Hands reach out for her from behind. 'Right here. There are steps ahead." With that, he began pushing her forward as she desperately backpedalled. "Wait, what?" Her foot kicked out at what she assumed would be the first step as Ace continued to mercilessly shove her up from behind. Abandoning all caution, Alice just focused on moving her feet fast enough to keep pace with Ace until her foot finally thunked down on thin air.

"Okay, you can take it off now." With a sigh, Alice rolled her eyes and gave Ace her hardest shove, in retribution for her ordeal the entire day. She pulled off her blindfold and looked around. For an instant she was blinded, as colour assaulted her senses and hey eyes tried to adjust. Blinking rapidly, she looked around to see that she was quite high off the ground, some sort of elevated platform. A large hunk of twisted metal lay to the side of the platform. She approached it and saw that it was actually tracks, possible rollercoaster tracks, so convoluted that it had at first appeared to be one giant hulking mass. A balloon floated up next where she stood, and yes, in the distance Mary's horrible violin performance could be heard. But despite the amusement park being normally so crowded, the platform was empty. Spinning around frantically, Alice tried to find the distinctive red that was the Knight of Hearts.

Feeling a sinking sensation of trepidation, she stops. Remembering her sudden shove earlier, she tentatively peeked over the edge of the platform to see Ace on the ground. His leg did not look like it should be able to physically bend that far back.

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The Next Day

"Wonderland News: Knight of Hearts Falls Off Waiting Line for Roller Coaster At Alice's Surprise Birthday Party" Alice reads aloud as she looks down at her handicapped knight.

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**This is my first Alice fanfic, just decided to try writing something. Some feedback would be appreciated. :) Thanks!**


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